I got my card in the mail but he probably won't get it until Monday or Tuesday, and alas! The only garden photo I had handy was of a butterfly on a lantana, not a hosta. But it is more important to be fast now than to be perfect, so even if you don't have a proper birthday card in the house, just drop him a note on whatever you've got. I put $1.25 US postage on mine which was probably overkill even with the enclosed photo, but I wanted it to get there. For those who missed the earlier postings: http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/hosta/msg0711491214623.html note from his family http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/hosta/msg071234497491.html update from family http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/hosta/msg0711324215303.html tribute and song/poem http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/hosta/msg0715211018965.html forum members talking about planting http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/excan/msg0720402220755.html more about the planting

Bunny girl, your meds had me thinking about take one down pass it around LOL...NAH, just kidding. Yes, I do say when it rains it pours and also that in which does not kill us makes us stronger, AND everything happens for a reason. SOOOOOO you hit them all up there LOL. I also say God doesn't put more on us then we can take, BUT God how much do you THINK I CAN take? You bet, I have my moments too. This month has been one for us. BUT we are getting through it and I BLESS the little things like for instance. Yesterday the SO was going to run somewhere and our truck wouldn't start. Well he says, I THINK it is out of gas... My youngest son just happened to break up with he GF this past weekend and is staying here for the time being. So I asked him if he had gas money and would run up to the store to get us some. WELL, while he was gone to the store to get the gas a guy pulls up needing some things done and was wondering if it could be done. IF the truck would have started then the work wouldn't have been able to get done. SO, it was either a blessing or good timing that the truck ran out of gas, and it WAS a blessing it ran out sitting in the yard! WEIRD and amazing all at the same time! I mean, it ran out as soon as he pulled in and turned it off the day BEFORE, in a spot I want him to start parking in NOT where HE usually parks. I think it was amazing AND weird LOL, I said that right? Point is, be thankful for every little detail we get. It is the little things that count and all is well. I will be glad when THIS month is over. I want to get things BACK in order!!! Bunny, I am glad you are starting to feel a little better. I can't imagine NOT being without an A/C unit. I am sure some organization can help with something since you have the kids there, esp little Lilie. I surely HOPE everything is going well for the rest of our group. I tell you some months are more the others aren't they? WOW, I just realized tomorrow is the LAST day of this month!!! Bunny, when you feel like it, will you email me the name of that Daylily Farm close to you? I am comparing prices on different farms before I put in a Daylily order. It is amazing how DIFFERENT some of these places are! I mean from 10.00- 20.00 different on some! Some are only 2.00-6.oo different BUT I am cheap and I want to make sure I get my money's worth and since you shop there they must be a good place. Do they have a website or do you know? If they do if you would email me the link to their site please. THANKS!!! Ok, I am headed off here. I am about to start some more seeds. Hey, I didn't tell you all I almost have ALL my stuff planted did I? YEAP, everything expect for the daylilies, I have them in large buckets until the daylily bed gets done. BUT everything else is basically in the ground. ALBEIT may NOT be where it is staying at least it IS in the flower bed!!! LOL, he told me I couldn't join ANYMORE swaps until I took care of the plants I had sitting around. Well so I did, he DIDN'T SAY I had to put them where they were to be planted he just said to TAKE care of them! SO THERE, whose the smartest of us all? LOL :) Fran

Cassandra, I can easily picture the tall verbena looking crazy out of place in front! I had myself a chuckle over that. I've had many similar mishaps. I usually end up leaving them as is, because I hate to dig up and move stuff. The buckwheat is so drought tolerant, I can't believe it. When I say, "it gets a squirt with the hose every few weeks", that's really all it gets. I don't even lay the hose down. Mostly I just spray the dust off it! It was 100F here for a few days, and I didn't water it. It still looks great. gdinieontario, I saw your Belle Story. It's very pretty. I would have chosen those two over Alnwick myself, because they are harder to come by. You can get Alnwick easily. Alnwick Castle is beautiful, but the blooms don't last in the heat at all. It doesn't last as a cut flower either. Again, I am so thankful for your help. I am so glad it's so easy to post again! Lisa

My best birthday ever was my 11th, and my mother bought me a horse. I say my mother, because my dad was overly protective of me, and tho I had been promised a horse, if left up to him, I never would have got one. The rest of my childhood and teenage years revolved around that horse. He broke his leg and had to be put down two days before I got married. It was worse than a funeral. My whole family grieved that horse, and it was a test for my husband to be, because it was so rainy and muddy a backhoe couldn't get in to bury him and my dad and Jody dug his grave by hand. When I was a kid, my mother always baked a cake for me...and fixed a birthday dinner. My daughter came years after our marriage and there were parties and sleep overs and trips for her and her friends, but I am like whatsayyou....if celebrating birthdays is your thing, good, but I don't care much for the hoopla. I am very self indulgent and I have always done and had whatever I want. Fortunately, my wants aren't very excessive, unless you count my horses. I have never felt deprived. I love to cook but it is not easy living here. Once I move, I may be a whole different person. I may even become normal for a little bit. (Doubtful....but maybe.) ;)